Protective device adaptable for use on snow skis



Jan. 28, 1969 A. s. HOOKER I PROTECTIVE DEVICE ADAPTABLE FOR USE ON SNOW SKIS Filed March 22, 1967 Zvmwraz 445557 5, 4604 55, ayg

United States Patent 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A device for protecting the upper edges of snow skis which comprises a protective strip composed of a strong, resilient material bonded to the top edge corners of the skis. The strip is substantially elongated and being L- shaped when viewed from a cross-section thereof and may have a diagonal chamfer on one end thereof.

This invention relates to improvements in snow skis or the like and more particularly to a novel and improved top edge-corner protective device for snow skis or the like.

One of the major problems in protection of skis while in use is the chipping and burring of the upper edgecorners thereof. Heretofore this chipping and burring was caused by these upper edge-corners of the skis, that is, the portion not actually in contact with the snow surface, being exposed thus making them susceptible to abuse and hardship by the wearer or other skiers. Not only does such chipping and burring cause the skis to wear and become unsightly, but also they cause the upper edge of one ski to hand up on the lower edge of the other ski when the skier is changing edges when executing a turn. As is well known, if the top edge of the ski becomes chipped and burred and the lower steel edge of the other ski is caused to hand up on this exposed chipped and burred upper edge, the skier is likely to fall and become injured.

Thus, a need has developed to provide a protection for these upper edges of the skis so that the wearer or other skiers will not cause them to chip and burr.

It has been found that when the skier is near congested areas such as ski tows or lifts, other novice or negligent skiers will tend to step on the wearers skis and the steel edges on the bottom of the other skiers skis cause the aforesaid chipping and burring thereof. T 00, it has been found that the skier may, because of inadvertency or be cause he is a novice, step on one of his own skis with the other causing the aforesaid abuse to the other.

The present invention provides a protective edge strip which is adapted to fit over the upper edge-corner of the snow ski or the like. The protective edge strip is composed of a soft, pliable yet strong material which is easily bon-dable to the ski edge-corner and in effect wraps around the ski to give protection not only to the sides or edges, but also to the top thereof as well.

It therefore becomes one object of this invention to provide a novel and improved protective device adaptable for use on snow skis.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel and improved device useful in protecting the top edgecorners of snow skis from damage by chipping and burring.

A further object of this invention is to provide a novel and improved device for protecting the steel edge runners of snow skis from becoming damaged when coming in contact with the top edge of the ski.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a novel and improved device for protecting the top edge of snow skis which eliminates the bottom of one ski from catching or hanging up on the adjacent ski when the skier is changing edges while executing a turn and thereby provides an added margin of safety to the skier.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a novel and improved device which provides added life to a pair of snow skis.

Still another obpect of this invention is to provide a novel and improved device which prevents skis from being abused by scratches or other damage when stepped on by ones other ski or 'by another skier.

These as well as other objects, features and advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art when taken in consideration with the following detailed description in which the accompanying drawings exemplify but a single preferred embodiment of this invention and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a typical snow ski showing partial view of a preferred embodiment of this invention employed therewith;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the curved tip of the ski shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-section of this ski employing this invention taken along the line 33 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a full top plan view of the ski employing the present invention.

Turning now to a detailed description there is shown in FIGURE 1 a main ski body 10 which is only partially shown for clarity. Spaced along edge-corners 12 is a plurality of protective strips 14. Each strip 14 of the plurality is substantially L-shaped and includes a fiat portion 18 which lies flat on a top surface 20 of ski 10. In a typical preferred embodiment, flat portion 18 of strip 14 may extend over the top surface 20 from edge-corners 12 by approximately 0.350". A typical length shown in FIGURE 4 is approximately 18" long but may be of any suitable and desired length. Strip 14 also has a side portion 22 which extends down side '24 of ski 10 perpendicular to portion 18 and at an angle of approximately thereto. A typical width of side portion 22 is 0.250".

Most of strips 14 are typically straight in these elongated lengths, but it is necessary to provide a curved portion 26 as shown in FIGURES 1 and 3. One strip 14a on the left hand side of ski 10 must curve to the right and strip 14b on the right of ski 10 must curve to the left.

In a typical embodiment of a snow ski as depicted in the drawings there is provided a steel runner 28 which extends the entire length of ski 10. Strip 14 is affixed to ski 10 by any suitable means, such as bonding, cementing or the like.

It may be desirable to provide for a chamfer 23 of about 45 on side portion 22. Thus, the side portion 22 does not interfere with the steel edges 28.

Strips 14 may be composed of a very strong yet flexible material such as a polyethylene or polystyrene plastic material or it may be composed of a rubberized material or a combination thereof so that should the steel runner of any other ski come in contact with the ski 10, strip 14 acts as a fender to buffer the effect thereof and protect the edge-corners 12 from any harmful effects.

Thus, it can be seen that the objects of this invention have been accomplished in that a means has been devised to protect snow skis or the like from harm from the edgecorners thereof becoming chipped or burred caused by contact with other skis and also provide an added margin of safety by having the adjacent skis hang up on these chips and burrs and prevent the skier from falling when changing edges while executing a turn. I

While there has been shown and described but one preferred embodiment of this invention, many modifications and changes could be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.

Having described but one preferred embodiment of this invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a protective device adaptable for use on a snow ski, said snow ski having; a bottom surface which is capable of being in contact with the snow surface when ski is in use, and at least one edge extending between said bottom surface and said top surface, the device comprising: a protective strip of relatively flexible material, and strip having a relatively L-shaped cross section which extends around said edge and said top surface and being afiixed thereto, said strip having a substantially square corner protruding on its edge opposite said ski edge and having a chamfer on the end of said strip extending over the edge of said ski.

2. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein said protective strip is composed of a strong and resilient material.

3. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein said protective device is a plastic material.

4. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein said protective device is a rubberized material.

5. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein said strip extends the entire length of said ski.

6. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein said strip has a curve portion on one end thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS BENJAMIN HERSH, Primary Examiner.

M. L. SMITH, Assistant Examiner. 

